How does Ramos always get away with so much body contact? That “tackle” on Nani was ridiculous. Just jumped in front of him while Nani was away. There is no way he gets away with that if he doesn’t play for Spain and Real Madrid.

Nani oversold the last one IMO or would have got the call. Ref was counting obviously on the second Ramos body block.
What was ref thinking in stopping the advantage on that Nani turn. Strange decision as all you have to do is wait for the ball to change possession. Hmmm…

Busquets gets a yellow for brandishing an imaginary card for Ronaldo to the ref. Well done ref. Hate Busquets and not enough is made of his dark arts on the teams that supposedly play the beautiful game.

Slightly off topic but one of the most useful “technology” advances is the 10 yd spray line that takes the creeping wall completely out of the game. The wall was 7-8 yds away from Ronaldo by the time he took that free kick.

I remember Tim Vickery talking about it in World Football Phone in about 5 years ago or so and I think it was in regards to the Brazilian league. It was definitely South America somewhere that I first heard about it.

I don’t understand why it isn’t used everywhere because the spray disappears relatively quickly but makes it obvious when the players creep up as soon as the ref backs up two steps.

MLS seems to be the one that’s implemented across the board. Just takes so much silliness out of the game. Mark off ten and make the line. That’s where the wall starts and stays…
That, real time in place of injury time and anything but penalties and I’m a happy camper.

Thwheeeeee! Thwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! A little Euro-style displeasure at the first 120.
I have to say that Pepe and Alves have been fantastic in defense and Couentrao surprisingly good defensively as well.

Ugh! Is there anything worse than finishing a match with penalties. Suggestion:
Reduce the sides by one field player for each 15 minute extra time. You retain the character of the game but increase the attacking space and give the advantage to the attacking side.

You can’t do that. It would knock that team out of the next round automatically if it went an extra 90 minutes. There is also the consideration that right now if a team gets below 7 (not sure it’s 7 but there is a number) players the match is abandoned. So you would be changing the character of the game.

Neither of those scenarios work due to the time constraints of tournaments. You can’t have a return leg because the games are already scheduled. There are 4 days between the first semi and the final. When would you play the return leg?

If you played until you scored you could end up with 5 guys having played another 90 minutes if it got down that far with 4 days rest (3 if it’s the semi that is played today). How would that be a fair way of determining the champion? There is zero chance that that team would win in the final with their best players completely wasted.

I’m not a fan of penalties but until there is some solution that doesn’t completely cripple the team that advances then penalties are the best solution. It allows for both teams to have an equal chance of advancing based on the skill of the players (or in the case of England the players refusal to practice them and call shootouts luck or a lottery).

You’re taking it to extremes that I’m not suggesting. Drop one player for each of the current two (2) extra time periods so the least you have (apart from red cards) would be 8 field players for the last extra time period. Similar to the current NHL model where you play with 4 out players in the OT to encourage more space and better attacking opportunities.
The numbers quoted yesterday were first shooting team wins 60-65% which essentially means that the coin flip influences the winner to an extreme beyond simple skill vs skill. Open play will always be the best way to settle a match IMO.But of course that’s just an opinion.

I thought you were trying to avoid penalties completely so playing to the bitter end.

So what would your solution be when the 8 v 8 ends without a goal? In the NHL they don’t use the 4 v 4 in the playoffs. That’s a recent change to the regular season as is the shootout that follows the 4 v 4.

I can’t fix everything…I’m just…one…man…))) (with half a plan))…
DTH’s return to NASL shootout is interesting. Additionally the shooter and keeper should have to wear those tiny shorts from the 70s as well….

Both are impressive to me in context with Gatt. Gatt has always been a good dribbler, but usually on the counter. This dribble–through a crowd–is something I haven’t really seen before. The vision, of course, is impressive.

The most impressive thing about Gatt is the learning curve–I can’t recall many American players who learn faster than Gatt.

I think he can play a role as a backup threatening defenses with his pace. Problem here is that Norway is probably worse than MLS, and obviously being a good MLS player doesn’t mean you’re a surefire good international player…

Just read that Jordi Alba signs for Barca for 14 million Euros. That is highway robbery. How do the big Spanish clubs always manage to buy from the other Spanish clubs for such a low price? It would be like Manchester United buying Bale for 15 million pounds or something.

I thought that they were over that for the most part although I think I read that they had reached agreement with a Spanish bank so that might not be the best agreement to have in place these days. I would think that would make them want to hold out for more rather than less. They were able to get 23.5 million GBP for Mata last year. It just seems like these teams roll over for the big 2 to take their players then complain that the best players all end up at the big 2.

Spain is looking more and more susceptible to der Mannschaft’s positive tendencies should they go through today of course. They seem to be falling into the Barca tendency to always play the same way regardless of what the opponent presents. Not starting Torres or even Fabregas was just an awful choice against Portugal and with a target man up top continued to force the play through the middle of the box. They got the result but Portugal should get huge props for their tactical approach (apart from Almeida) and defensive solidarity.

Negredo played poorly, but wasn’t necessarily a bad selection against Pepe and Alves. Spain looked better and controlled the ball better after he was out though. As the Portugese coach said, the Spanish substitutes changed the game.

A Germany – Spain final would be a great game, and I’m not sure who I’d favor.